The Pirate Ship

De Piratenboot returned to the news in September 2025 because of an incident that happened not during a ride cycle, but during maintenance work. On a Monday afternoon, while Plopsaland Belgium was closed to visitors, oil leaked into the large pond near the swinging ship. Staff raised the alarm and the fire brigade was called in.

According to Looopings, the oil was floating on the water at the location of De Piratenboot, a 1981 attraction that stands above the pond. Because the pollution threatened to spread into a nearby watercourse, firefighters built a dam and used insulating granules to absorb the oil. Plopsaland technicians then continued the clean-up work.

Visitors mainly felt the impact when the park reopened. De Piratenboot stayed closed and was covered with tarpaulin; the pedal boats were also unavailable. The incident shows how closely this ride is tied to its watery setting. The ship is not only a mechanical family classic, but also part of a pond landscape where maintenance, environmental safety and the visitor experience are directly connected.

In July 2013, De Piratenboot at Plopsaland De Panne suffered a major setback. During a maintenance inspection, Looopings reported that serious defects had been discovered on the classic swinging ship. The conclusion was blunt: the ride could no longer operate safely that year and would have to remain closed until at least early 2014.

For visitors, the timing could hardly have been worse. The Belgian school holidays had just begun and Plopsaland was drawing large daily crowds. At precisely that moment, the park lost a familiar family ride, a 32-year-old ship that many guests associated with the park's older, more traditional line-up. The closure was therefore more than a technical problem; it also reduced capacity during the busiest part of the season.

The scale of the repair made the situation especially difficult. To fix the defects, the heavy boat had to be lifted by two large cranes, something that could not be done safely while guests were in the park. The incident turned De Piratenboot into a clear example of the vulnerability of older mechanical rides: beloved and nostalgic, but dependent on substantial maintenance when the underlying machinery starts to fail.